Botín and Trittel are the best sailors of the year

After a sensational year for sailing, with a strong Spanish accent, Diego Botín and Florian Trittel have been awarded as the top winners at the World Sailing Awards ceremony, held in the historic CHIJMES Hall in Singapore.

The gold medalists in the 49er men's category at Paris 2024 and winners of the 4th season of SailGP were clear winners at the World Sailing of the Year.

Diego Botín and Florian Trittel have had an exceptional year, less than a month after taking the Spanish SailGP team from tenth to first place to win the SailGP in its fourth season, breaking the Australian dominance in the title. In the 49er season, they also won the Semaine Olympique Francaise and the Trofeo Princesa Sofía.

The female version was for the Olympic gold medalist at Paris 2024, Marit Bouwmeester, the sailor with the most Olympic successes in this sport and who now accumulates two awards after her victory in 2017. This year she became the most decorated Olympic sailor of all time by winning her Olympic gold medal. Marit's Olympic success has made her a role model, after she returned to competition following the birth of her daughter in time to start preparations for Paris 2024.

Poland's Ewa Lewandowska and Singapore's Max Maeder rose to the new awards of Young World Sailor of the Year.

Ewa Lewandowska won gold in 29er at the Youth Sailing World Championships. Success came in pair with Krzysztof Królik, with whom she began sailing in February and with whom she also won the European title and finished second in the 29er World Championship. Lewandowska also won the youth world gold last December alongside Julia Maria Zmudzinska.

At 17, Max Maeder is the reigning world champion of Formula Kite, of the Asian Games, of Asia, and of Europe, as well as an Olympic bronze medalist at Paris 2024. He won gold at the 2024 World Championships in Hyères and his incredible trajectory also includes a victory at the World KiteFoil Series in Austria, gold at the 2024 Asian Championships, gold at the Asian Games, and gold at the 2023 Youth Sailing World Championships. He is one of the most consistent athletes in the class, with podiums in all events. He is the youngest world champion of an Olympic class and the youngest Olympic medalist from Singapore.

Winds of Change won the 11th Hour Racing Sustainability Award, NLcomp was named the first winner of the new World Sailing Technology Award, the Olympic champion pair formed by Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti won the Team of the Year award, which adds to the Rolex World Sailor of the Year that both won in 2022, Aiko Saito received the Beppe Croce Trophy in celebration of a career dedicated to sailing, and Tunisian Olympian and President of the Tunisian Sailing Federation, Hedi Gharbi, won the President's Development Award.

The awards were decided by the combined verdicts of 49,964 public votes and a jury of experts.